I had quite a few zucchini left over from my last market haul and decided to try out (and slightly tweek, as always) a favorite family recipe for sweet zucchini pickles that came with the guarantee  "makes hamburgers taste better" boldly emblazoned on the recipe card. 

I have to say, my version adds a little extra character and depth that I LOVE and it'll be a great addition to any green salad, tuna salad, potato salad... anything that needs a little extra tang and depth.

Greens are big and beautiful this time of year, so why not use an entire bunch of them in this unique soup?  Great for a rainy day.

Heat broth in a large kettle over high heat.  When boiling  turn down to medium and add chicken, fish sauce, onions, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes, then add noodles and bok choi.  Cook another 5 minutes and serve. 

Goes nicely with tamari on top, or with Sriracha hot sauce.

Enjoy!

A few weeks back our wild rose bushes were in full bloom.  There were enough flowers to fill many, many quart containers and the smell was divine.  I stopped picking after about 2 quarts of petals had been harvested (my eldest daughter was done getting pricked by the thorns at that point) and brought them inside to make rosewater.  


I had it in my head that I'd be using the 2 quarts of rosewater that I ended up making in tons of different recipes, but then my fascination with strawberries took over and I lost track of time.  A few  weeks later, my rosewater was still sitting in the refridgerator, looking forlorn...  and I decided to use the whole container in one go!

The result was an amazing smelling sweet rose petal wine!

Starting at around the 4th of July, our wild black raspberries were ripening.  The bushes have been yielding a bit more than a quart every-other-day and we've been gorging on them, and filling the freezer with the rest.  I plan on making wine, and jam as I have in the past, and they're also fantastic with
(soy)icecream or used instead/alongside strawberries over shortcake. 


I'll include the wine and jam recipes as I get around to them.

Another garden staple around here has been zucchini!  If you've ever grown this vegetable, or know anyone who does, you know that once they start producing, LOOK OUT because they'll take over your entire kitchen!  There's never a shortage around here despite the fact that I haven't actually grown any for the last few years.  I got a bagful at the farmer's market for .75 each and have been playing happily ever since.

So far I have made zucchini soup, zucchini bread, sliced zucchini on the grill, zucchini in kabobs, and sausage/zucchini pizza on the grill.  The recipes for soup and bread are designed specifically to use up zucchini.  Like, those HUGE ones you can't figure out what else to do with!

                                                   Seasalt to taste

Well, strawberry season is winding down, and I thought it best to have it go out with a BANG this year.  I made the last of the strawberry harvest into preserves with some leftover rhubarb that I had frozen a couple of weeks back.  And, I'd also like to take this opportunity to share my favorite cake recipe, ever.  This cake doesn't screw around or make excuses.  It's a full-blown from scratch birthday cake-style treat that includes Dairy-free buttercream frosting.

We'll start off with the preserves.  If you aren't making your own preserves ( jam and jelly) yet, you really should.  It's incredibly easy and doesn't take as much time as you might think.  I made 5 jars of Strawberry- Rhubarb Jam that I'm keeping in the refridgerator.  The first jar disappeared after about 3 days, and another jar could easily be used as an AMAZING strawberry cake layer filling/ fruit topper.

Honestly, I just follow the recipe on the Certo pectin box, but I'll write it down here just you can all see how easy it is:

• 24 oz very ripe strawberries, hulled (or no-sugar-added frozen strawberries)
• 1-2 tsp sugar (optional)
•  
• For the cake:
• 1/3 cup Soymilk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp Earthbalance brand Margarine (1 1/2 sticks), at room temp

1. Hull, slice and toss fresh strawberries with a teaspoon or two of sugar and cover. Let them sit at room temperature until juicy.
2. Puree strawberry mixture  in a blender 
3. Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake.
4. Use leftover puree to fill the cake or fold into the frosting, if desired. OR use some of the Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from the above recipe!
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8- or 9-inch pans: oil and flour the pans well
6. In a small bowl, combine puree, soymilk, eggs, and vanilla and mix with a fork until well blended. In  the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
7. Add wet ingredients and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until  evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds.
8. Divide the batter evenly among the pans
9. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary). Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely before frosting!

• 1 cup Earth Balance Margarine (or Palm-oil based Shortening *contains no transfat)
• 4 cups corn-free confectioners’ sugar
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 2 T. plain unsweetened almond milk or soymilk

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream the margarine until fluffy. Add the confectioners sugar gradually, beating at a low speed until combined. Turn up the speed to high, add the remaining ingredients, and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Chill slightly before using.



Assemble your cake!  Put the Jam layer in between the two cake layers, and then frost with buttercream!

I hope you all enjoyed strawberry season as much as I did this year!   

We made our annual obligatory strawberry shortcake and it's super-easy, super tastey, and loved by everyone in our household.

Back in June I picked and pickled a jar of wild grape leaves when I found them newly growing on the vines in the hedgerow by our house.  A couple weeks later, I've decided to turn them into dolmades!  They were fairly easy to put together, and I loved the flavor combination.

Enjoy!

The Summer Solstice was a busy day around here! And the beer that resulted from my nettle harvest is ready (in just under 2 weeks).  It's carbonated, zingy with a large dose of citrus, and has the bitterness of mature nettle that is reminiscent of Cascade hops.

*side-note*    Mature stinging nettle, in our area, is bitter. Not completely unpalatable...but my kids and husband did not appreciate it in the soup that I made.  If you're using your nettle in a food recipe that you do not want to be mildly bitter, use young nettle early in the season.  I'll be trying this again next May, since I now know where there's a large patch of it.

And now, on to the beer!